What has HLF done for nature?

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Our researchers analysed grant award data from 1994 to March 2017. They also interviewed 20 key stakeholders from across the UK who have an interest in landscapes and nature.

The aim of this research was to explore the strategic impact that HLF investment has had on landscapes and nature. It will also look at the organisations that champion nature over the past 20 years.

HLF has invested over £765million in landscape and nature projects which includes funding to:

Restore and conserve threatened habitats

Save species from extinction

Help reconnect people to landscapes and nature

Acquire land to improve its conservation

Enhance urban biodiversity and green spaces

Promote citizen science

Eengage volunteers

Support skill development

Grants awarded range from £3,000 to over £10m with projects spanning everything from engaging children in underwater safaris to restoring over 80 square miles of degraded peat bog in Scotland. HLF investment has allowed grantees to develop and test new methodologies, to build new partnerships, to work at a larger scale, to attract more match funding, to create new visitor infrastructure, to grow conservation organisations and to improve organisational resilience.

The research includes case studies, grant award data and quotes from the many people interviewed.